Alyssa Trahan; A Country singer/songwriter making her way in the music industry.

You’ve met several Che Holloway several times. An aspiring and successful actor, Che is deeply immersed in the Rochester cultural scene. So much so, we’ve named him Che of The Town!

Che of the Town from Rochester works for Che Holloway

Exclusively for Talker, Che has solicited and is conducting interviews from about 50 Rochestarians working in a diversity of creative fields.

So far, Che of The Town interviewed Britton Bradford, a professional basketball player, visual artist and occasional actor and model who graduated from the School of the Arts, Josh Pies, a local cinematographer and Executive Producer, Creative Director and Head Writer at C47 Film Associates, Tom Tubiolo, a local artist and local photographer Matthew McArdle

Today, Che profiles musician Alyssa Trahan.

Alyssa Trahan; A country singer/songwriter making her way in the music industry.

Alyssa Trahan is well on her way to leaving a grand mark in the industry. Appearing in commercials locally and currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. Writing and recording music, Alyssa proves she will do what it takes to get the work done. Alyssa Trahan is hungry, hardworking and disciplined in her craft and has a fresh voice that’s worth taking a few moments to listen to. (Thank me later)

I was fortunate enough to ask Alyssa Trahan a series of questions to get into the psyche of this rising star. Here’s what we discussed

Q. Tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from, grew up, what H.S./College you attended etc.

Well, I’m a country singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist originally from the tiny town of East Rochester, NY. I went to ER High School and Finger Lakes Community College, where I studied audio engineering. Last year, I made the move to Nashville, TN to pursue my career in music. I live here full time now, but I still come back to NY every so often to play shows! I play a lot of county fairs, festivals, and local music venues in upstate NY and have opened for Charlie Daniels, Joe Nichols, Jana Kramer, Eric Paslay and others.

Q. What inspired you to be an artist/entertainer? Early experiences worth sharing?

I have been performing for as long as I can remember. I was a dancer for 14 years, a cheerleader for a while, and I was always a part of band, chorus and musicals when I was in school. Being an artist was always my dream though. Every time I had a performance of any kind I pictured what it would be like to sing my original music on the stage. I started playing out as an artist when I was around 15 and fell in love with it. Since then I’ve played hundreds of shows, and I don’t plan on slowin’ down!

Q. Talk about a time where you have faced adversity/conflict and have triumphed.

Being in the music business, I’ve had my fair share of hard times haha! But there was a time I was offered a “shark” deal that I almost fell for (a shark deal is basically a bad deal where someone promises the moon but either charges a ton of money or doesn’t really help you in your career). I was just starting out, so at the time I thought that was “it”. After speaking to a few good friends in the industry and really thinking it through, I saw that it wasn’t right and they were basically trying to trick me. I learned a lot from it though and am a lot more cautious about deals now!

Q. What do you believe sets you apart from other artists/entertainers?

Every artist has something that makes them unique. But I think what sets me apart is that I wear all the hats. I write all my own music, play several different instruments, produce my own demos (and demos for other artists), and I do all my own booking, social media/website design & management, and most of my video work. I’m told I’m a ‘workaholic’ pretty often, but that’s okay with me!

Q. Do you have other interests or hobbies?

To be honest, music is my whole life. I’m always either writing, playing, recording, mixing, performing or listening to music! I do care about staying healthy though, so I like to workout when I have time!

Q. Any projects you have out or currently working on?

I have been working on a ton of new stuff since I moved to Nashville. I can’t say too much about anything though. There is a lot going on behind the scenes right now! Hopefully I’ll be able to share soon, because I’m so excited and anxious for people to hear what I’ve been working on!

Q. Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years?

I would like to see myself living out my dream as a country artist/writer. I hope I get the chance to go on tour and play my music for people all around the world and just keep doing what I love to do! I’ll always be a musician, I just want to make it my career, and the only thing I do for the rest of my life!

Q.What advice can you give to aspiring artists/entertainers?

I would say practice, focus on yourself and really learn about the business side of things. Also, make sure you get enough sleep and take care of your voice!

Q. How can we follow along in your journey? Social media?

You can check out my website – AlyssaTrahan.com! I’m also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat. The links to all of those are also on my website. My music is also available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, etc!

Talker of the Town is a continuation of conversations begun in three Democratic Chronicle blogs: Make City Schools Better, Unite Rochester and the Editorial Board.
Since February 2013, urban education has been the primary focus. Now, the flowering of topics is limited only by our imaginations.

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